Your first try is a gray wet wash that puckers
the paper—mirroring the sodden rolls
of ocean air that hang overhead and leach color
from wildflowers crowding the road. But
remember, we don’t all abide beneath the same
heavens. On the far side of the world, cumulus
has an inky edge, as if brushed by a master’s hand.
Learn from this. As Ganku taught his students
long ago: Make your clouds a gentle presence
on a length of yellow silk. Then a hare
hiding in painted grass and the tiger stalking it
forever will be bathed in sunshine
